Follow the Leader: Safe Haven
by The Badger Boy
Summary: Father Cleary has used Faith and heavy weaponry to fortify the town of Riverside, creating the only safe haven in the entire Danger Zone. Slavering infected batter the walls as he struggles to maintain the safety and satisfaction of his new congregation.


**Follow the Leader: Safe Haven**

**_Hello to anyone who has stumbled across this fic. This fic is sort of leading on from an idea I created in my original "Follow the Leader" story, but reading that story first isn't necessary, just might be interesting to fit the two pieces together. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading, and don't be afraid to tell me what you think in the reviews, positive or negative._**

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**Chapter 1: Rapture**

_Zechariah 14:12_

"_Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouth. On that day a large-scale panic from the LORD will spread among them. One person will grab the hand of another, and one will attack the other."_

All I can remember thinking, is that I was witnessing the Rapture. At first there was illness and sorrow. Then people started to disappear, good people whom I had built my life around. Then, after the army moved in and people began to whisper about a "quarantine", I knew that Hell was about to break loose on earth. It did, and it wasn't all fire and brimstone as I'd expected, but it wasn't pretty either. People began to change, the ill ones first, and then others. They transformed into monsters overnight, sickly and weak, but terribly fast, and bloodthirsty.

The worst part was probably when we lost power for the second time in two days. I remember looking out of the church window and seeing a girl in the street. She was wandering towards the shop opposite the church, illuminated only by moonlight calling out for her father. Looking back, I wish I'd done something more, but I was scared and everything seemed like a nightmare. I think it became real when the shop door burst open and the owner, Buddy Perkins, jumped through screaming. The girl didn't stand a chance and he beat her to the ground and tore a chunk out of her arm. As she lay there stunned and bleeding, there was a gunshot and Buddy fell face first onto the pavement, dark liquid spilling from his head.

I remember closing my eyes and chanting prayers under my breath. When I was brave enough to peer back out of the window, I could see two people who looked like the elderly couple from Regency street, Mr and Mrs Marlow. They had picked up the poor girl who was barely conscious and were putting her into the back of a car. I could just about see the look on the old man's face, anxious and scared. His wife's face was set and determined, and in her right hand, I swear I could see a pistol. Going to my work desk and getting out my Colt Anaconda revolver and my Smith and Wesson pistol was difficult, but I managed. I was lucky that I got round to reloading them, because the next few days was when the shit really hit the fan.

I had spent the day pacing back and forth in my office, wondering why no one had showed up to my usual Sunday service. It had been a whole four days since they had sent out the first news report about the new epidemic, and only two days since the Army had clamped down quarantine and Riverside had been classed as part of the "Danger Zone". But now things were different. At the start, CEDA had told us to wash our hands and we'd be fine. When the army took charge and told us that we needed to stay indoors. Of course the people of Riverside had obeyed. We were scared and wanted to be safe from the horrors that we had witnessed here and there over the space of a few days. By the time four days had gone by, we all knew what we were dealing with after watching several of our well loved citizens go insane and attack their loved ones.

I gathered the courage to glance out of the window, and I saw that there were in fact about 12 or 13 people in the street. On further inspection, they were all sick. The army had all rolled out to a "safe distance", and now Riverside felt like they were all alone. Suddenly there was a loud bang and a car roared into existence in the distance. I watched as it sped down the street outside the church, hitting three of four of those sick men and women. I felt a pang of guilt, but it soon evaporated as I saw the others' faces screw up in anger, as they abruptly rushed after the car screeching and howling. They had lost all humanity. The driver of the car had obviously not known about the barrier at the end of the street which the military had set up. The wheels screeched as they pulled off an impressive U-turn and headed back towards the church, hitting the sick people as they went. One of the sick managed to leap onto the car's windscreen, which caused it to swerve and crash into a lamppost. I held my breath. There was another bang and the right window shattered causing one of the sick people to fall to their knees, blood pouring from their head.

Three people leapt from their car, all brandishing guns and weaponry. As if by some sort of twisted miracle, a crowd of the ill citizens began pouring over the barrier. The survivors were indistinguishable in the flurry of shooting and swiping, as they held off the few attackers who had been present at first, but I knew that if they had to fight against the new horde as well, there would be no hope. But it wasn't too late, so I grabbed my guns and headed for the huge church doors. I booted the first one open, glad to be wearing my combat boots which I wore to go hiking. I sprinted down the church garden, and opened the gate as wide as I could. Holding the revolver in my right hand and the pistol in my left, I raised my arms and aimed at the incoming horde. These weren't people anymore, they were demons, and I had to do God's bidding.

My vision went red as I wasted an entire round for each gun on the horde of demon spawn. This gave the survivors enough time to make it to the church gates. I reloaded both guns and took down the last few, and then slipped back inside the gate and closed it. There were still at least seven or eight demons left, who flung themselves at the gate with hopeless abandon. The survivors gunned them down, and the four of us ran back to the church doors and slammed them behind us. My mind was still processing the speed with which I had sped to action, and I seemed to be running on instinct as I grabbed a bookcase and threw it in front of the big oak doors.

After I calmed down, I turned around and took in the survivors that stood before me. The tallest was a man of about 30, I recognised him, although he wasn't a church goer, so I couldn't name him. He wore smart clothes and a few rings, which screamed money, money, money. Next to him was a young boy of about 16 or 17. He had a young face, but was clearly athletic and muscular, although slightly skinny. The last survivor was the 73-year old Mrs Marlow from Regency street. She was a frequent churchgoer and was seriously religious, almost as much so as myself. It was her whom I had seen helping the poor young girl the night before last.

"Father," she whispered. "This is it isn't it, the Rapture?"

I couldn't speak, so I just nodded my head. I knew it must be true, I just knew it. But what I couldn't understand was why we were still here and not in Heaven. I could blame my sins on the nights I had spent with the girl next door when I was a young boy, but poor Mrs Marlow, she was the most God fearing woman on the planet. Maybe this wasn't the Rapture, but something much, much more. The tall man stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Father, I've never been the religious kind, but I think we need to barricade this church if we want to survive."

I nodded again. He still held a shotgun in his hand, which scared me. I thought back to the killing of those demon things, and couldn't believe that I had gone through it.

"Wait, Mrs Marlow? Where are your husband and that injured girl from the other night?" I asked. Mrs Marlow's face went dark and she cast her eyes downwards.

"Jeff always did have a thing for young girls," she said uncomfortably. "I guess I knew he'd want to 'look after her', I just didn't expect her to turn into one of them. Or to turn him into one with a single bite"

"I'm sorry, God rest his soul."

"Don't be sorry, I wasn't sorry when I put a bullet through their heads."

There was a shocked silence. This little lady had gone through a lot, and it was amazing to see such a frail woman in such a state of pure determination. She was a killing machine of sorts. I grimaced. I needed to forget my fears and let my inner courage take over. With God looking over me then I would be safe. That is if God was still out there.

After we had barricaded the entire church, we all gathered upstairs in my office which was located in the attic part of the church, up a ladder. I broke the lower panels of the stained glass window so we could all have a view of the street. I reloaded my second pistol, and made sure the safety was off. I turned back, and for the first time since I had rushed out to help them, I actually took in these three survivors. The old lady was old at sight, but she was healthy, and looked like she could run a marathon. The bigger guy, Carl, was tall and bulk, and his looks and attitude made me suspect him of a cocky and aggressive personality, but so far his survival instinct was overpowering it. The youngest of them was not quite weedy, but he was slight and athletic looking, of similar build to myself. He liked to be known as Trip. The three of them looked at me with questioning faces. The sun was setting.

"What? What did I do?" I asked.

"I just didn't expect to see a man of faith with two loaded guns," said Carl, a smirk on his face. I laughed a little.

"It's all over," I said, "This is the end, but I can't just sit back."

"What do you mean by "the end"?" said Trip, looking anxious.

"Son, this is the Rapture. And God didn't choose us. But that isn't going to stop us from surviving."

"Too right." piped up the little old Mrs Marlow.

"But we can't just survive with the four of us. The Army is gone," said Carl, his eyebrows raised.

"Well you guys have come through Riverside right? Well what's up with the survivor status?"

"Everyone is locked in their homes, boarded up. We tried to get some of them to join us, but they were too scared."

"Right, well this is where I come along. I'm their priest, and although it scares me to say it, I have a massive influence."

"Aha! Great idea father." exclaimed Mrs Marlow.

"Thanks," I said modestly, "But it's gonna be dangerous. How packed were the streets? Because I've only seen the one you guys came crashing through."

"They are all fairly quiet. Only half of the population has turned into infected."

"Right, so we hit the streets and bring as many people back here as possible," I stopped in my tracks, "Oh my good Lord, a half of Riverside? Wow."

The three survivors just looked sad. The four of us had lost our friends and families to this raging monster, and it had only reared an ugly head above the surface of hell. Trip stood up quickly, a thoughtful look on his face. He got a lighter out of his pocket and lit it to give himself some more light. The sun had well and truly succumbed to the darkness, and the entire church was dark.

"Rev, you got a radio and some recording stuff yeah? The army left it all behind right?" He said.

"Yeah, why?"

"I think I can set up a radio link so you can transmit to the whole of Riverside. This is insane. I can actually do it!"

"What? This is brilliant!" I was amazed at the idea spewing from this young adult. "We can bring them towards us!"

Carl nodded passionately. "This could work. This church is the most defensible building in the whole of Riverside, and we are on the outskirts of the main town, so we could really turn this into a safe haven."

I smiled broadly, showing off my god fearing preacher face. "Trip, can you get it set up by midnight?"

"I think so, if I work really hard. They are in the vestry right?"

"Yep, get to work Trip, make your parents proud."

That simple phrase filled him with determination and he slid down the ladder out of sight, his dead dad's rifle strapped to his back.

"Carl, what do you know about buildings then?"

"Father, with all respect, I'm a quantity surveyor, it is what I do."

"Good, so you can start drawing up some defensive plans. We are going to need to turn into a band of soldiers if we are going to make it through this."

He nodded his approval, and made to slide down the ladder, but I stopped him.

"And Carl? Look after Trip for me."

He laughed, "I think he can handle himself, but I will do."

As he slid out of sight, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Mrs Marlow.

"Good job Father."

I was overcome by the sheer passion in her old and wise eyes.

"We need to get over to that shop opposite this church, Buddy's old shop. We need to eat and drink, and I know his wife Millie kept truckloads of ammo for her Autoshotgun. But first, we need to start writing a list of all of the possible survivors. If we put our heads together, we can figure out who has made it through this shit. It's gonna be difficult, but between us we have like 110 years of experience, and a serious knowledge of this town."

We spent the next hour going through the church registry and picking out those most likely to have survived. Mrs Marlow seemed to have been successful in remembering which houses had looked alive, and which ones looked dead.

She was about to say something, but she was stopped in her tracks by a cacophony of screeches and howls which carried through the window. We were both instantly alert and I sprung to the window, guns in hand. Over the barrier which the army had set up, came a horde of the demons. They poured over the barrier and each one hit the ground running, arms flailing and vocal chords screaming. They were all dressed in army uniforms and a lump caught in my throat. How could I lead this church to survival if the army had failed? They knew exactly where they were heading, and their mob mentality lead them straight up to the church gates. The first few just slammed into the metal, but the ones after managed to leap up and get their fingers latched onto the top. With incredible strength they pulled themselves upwards and clambered over the fences and gate. There were at least 30 of them.

I took three seconds to collect myself, and then I sprang from my position to the ladder. I had to warn the others. Mrs Marlow didn't follow me down the ladder, and I could hear her Glock sounding off through the window. As I hit the ground, the first infected slammed itself into the large double oak doors. This was followed by several other bangs as it, and the other infected began to beat at the door. With every bang it bent inwards slightly, its rusty old hinges rattling.

"Hey Rev, it was easier than I thought! I just rewired the stuff, and all I need to do is set up a link to the radio transmitter on the… What the hell?"

I turned and pushed Trip back through the door into the main area of the church.

"Thirty odd infected, we need to hold the line! Take out any demon that gets through those double doors! Where is Carl?" My mind was ten sentences ahead of my mouth, so I sped past him and ran to the back room of the church. I barely laid my eyes on Carl before I had grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the main hall. Flip was standing in front of the Alter, his rifle aimed at the double doors.

"Trip, get upstairs with Mrs Marlow! We got this!"

As Trip clambered up the ladder, the top half of the doors burst open, and three of the infected managed to climb over the bookcase and chairs that had been piled there. Carl cleaned them out with two blasts from his shotgun, and I opened fire on the crowd pooling outside of the church. After a couple of minutes of steady shooting, the window to our left burst open and an infected sprung through. It was the daughter of the movie theatre owner. Sally. She was well and truly infected, with rage on her face, blood in her mouth and only one eye. She leapt onto Carl, knocking him backwards, but I swiftly placed a bullet in her empty eye socket, feeling no remorse. Carl got to his feet and took out two more infected who burst through the broken window. He then turned and swung his shotgun like a club into the face of an infected who at made it as far as the main hall. I fired off three or four more shots from my dual pistols, and the last infected fell hard.

A frightening calm settled over us, and Trip slid down the ladder, with Mrs Marlow following close behind. Trip made a signal with his hands which indicated that they had used up the last of their ammo. He made for the nearest chair and slumped down on it, exhausted, but Mrs Marlow pulled him back to his feet with unforeseen strength.

"Boy, there's no time for resting! You need to teach the Reverend how he can work that damn radio thing."

Trip understood what she was asking and led myself and the other survivors back into the main part of the church. I turned back and looked over to the old lady and the shotgun wielder.

"Maybe you guys should start barricading this place back up. Use the pews, and stack them against the windows. Actually, Mrs Marlow, Maybe it would be a good idea if you kept watch from upstairs."

She nodded and both of them got straight to work. Trip had wired all of the radio equipment up to a pile of batteries. It looked dangerous, but Riverside didn't have any power so I didn't complain.

"Here Rev, speak into here. It should be online now."

I took a deep breath, crossed myself and thought of God and Jesus.

"Hello surviving citizens of Riverside. This is Reverend Cleary. We are indeed in the midst of the horrifying Armageddon. But there is still hope. If anyone is alive, and needs assistance, then there are survivors holding out in the Riverside church. We will be opening our gates every sunrise. God watch over you, and God speed."

Trip raised his hand to signal for me to stop. He smiled, and I smiled back, but we were both anxious for what was to come.

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**_So that was the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed. I have another chapter line dup already, and I will see how far I take this depending on how this is received. I lok forward to hearing what you guys think :)_**


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